Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Wednesday's Wacky Whisperings

by Jes

Just a bunch of ran-dumb thoughts to empty out of my head before it gets too full.

After starting the season off with a bang (2 assists in his debut), Jaroslav Hlinka has hit the wall and hasn't had a single point in his last 5 games and also is -2. Hmm ... Greg or another Avs fan will have to let me know why he's done nothing since the opener.

Paul Stastny is on pace for 177 points. W00t!

Miroslav Satan: 1 assist and -3 in 6 games. WTF, eh?

Dustin Penner: 1 goal and 1 assist in 6 games. Money well spent.

The LA KINGS are in some kind of trouble, having given up 28 goals in 7 games!! Sheesh, it makes you wonder if Dan Cloutier is available for a call up. Only 2 players on the roster have a positive +/-

Rob Blake: Thou art done, son. D00d might have had 34 points last year, but he was noticeably slow and finished with an awful -26. This season, he's a league worst -9 in 7 games and isn't doing much offensively. The Kings were dumb to give him such a large contract, and now he's a big 'anchor', and not the good kind.

Oh, and how much longer will Marc Crawford be coaching? D00d was awful in his last season with the Canucks, and hasn't looked good with the Kings. Perhaps it is time to go back to the broadcast booth, where he'd be welcome with open arms.

How in the hell are the Blackhawks 3-2? Well, check out their goaltending stats... 1.79GAA and 93.4SV%. The Hawks have scored only 9 goals in 5 games, so the good times won't last.

How does the high-powered, expensive Rangers lineup have just 10 goals in 5 games? Well, I wonder if we are seeing a return of the all-talent, no-chemistry Rangers of old. Sign a bunch of expensive stars and watch them fizzle? We shall see...

Typical bad coaching: The Canadiens get a 1-0 lead against the Panthers last night THREE MINUTE into the frickin game. What do they do? They sit back and defend, defend, defend. It serves them right that the Panthers tied it with 10 seconds to go, and then smoked them in the shootout.

I'll never get why teams sit back so much, especially on a one-goal lead, when they are ahead. Keep doing what got you the lead, and apply pressure!! The best defence is a good offence, IMO.The Atlanta Thrashees are now 0-6 and the Bob Hartley Death Watch continues. Honestly, I don't see why Don Waddell, their GM, isn't also on the firing line. He's been with the team since its inception, and they haven't done much of anything under his tenure. Sure, they made the playoffs last year, but they were swept away like a dust ball. Dealing a huge chunk of assets for a couple of rentals (like Tkachuk) indicates short-term thinking gone bad.

The Flyers are back ... ugh. It's easy, once again, to despise this team for their thuggish behaviour, awful uniforms, and just overall assholeness. It was hard to hate them last year when they were so pitiful. Now? It's like old times.

Oh, and "Danny" Briere? WTF? Since when did he change his first name? Really, Daniel (pronounced Danielle) really fit him so well. Danny is just so lame. Did the flyers marketing department just deem Daniel to be too wimpy? Kind of like how Bobby Clarke became Bob Clarke (Although everyone still calls him Bobby)?

Carolina always had the offence, but lacked the goaltending. It's nice to see Cam Ward finally put together a nice streak. He's started the season with this line, which makes you think he's finally arrived for a regular season: 1.79GAA and a 94.2SV%. Nice!

Hlinka's descent probably has more to do with Joey Q.'s 'mad chemist' routine with the lines than anything. Hlinka started the season with Son of Stastny and Milan "the Duke" Hejduk, then switched to the chemistry-less top line with Super Joe and Brunette. That didn't work, but Smyth playing with SoS and the Duke did, so Hlinka was shifted to the third line with Arnason and Svatos. That's three WILDLY different lines over the course of six games. Arnason can't finish and Svatos can't grind and that line isn't clicking especially well. Plus the H-link has been seeing a ton of PK minutes too.

Those are all likely reasons, but in reality, I think it's because he's started rockin' the Yashin turtleneck...